I have been looking forward to the Best Books Sale this
time of the year...Vinod first alerted me about the date, which was to be 1
September... I told him I’d be in Secunderabad area sometime in the evening and
might find some time to have a look...he said he too had similar plans...then
on 1 September I receive text message from Best Books about the sale...that
evening, there were three stops on the way to a get-together and I couldn’t manage
the time... I was determined to visit the sale early on (early bird catches
the worm and that sort of thing...)
The next day I took some time off college and went book hunting...my
first enquiry at the counter was...”any Robert Parkers, Elmore Leonards, Ian
Rankins...?” “No, sir ... please visit our Lakdi-ka-Pul shop, there are
some...we haven’t brought them here this time...” early deflation of enthusiasm...I had
actually come prepared with lists of books of these writers and some more, with
titles I had already read ticked off and so on... I was pretty disappointed...
Since I was there anyway, let me look around and see what
catches my eye... I knew I’d find something...he he he...the “literature”
section holds some promise always... I could see a number of Umberto Eco
titles... I have all his novels... there were quite a few Albert Camus
books too... most of them familiar titles that I already have... I picked up
one which I hadn’t seen/read before... I read in the blurb that it was his last
novel, manuscript found among his papers and published posthumously, The
First Man... then I saw an Italo Calvino... Calvino is always a
treat... I remembered the time when I found two Italo Calvinos at the BB sale a
couple of years ago... this was a book of short stories... Numbers in the
Dark and other stories... nice...
I can consume one slice at a time...
but Krishna, mind is not satisfied... then I realised I did not have enough cash
on me and had forgotten to bring my debit card...so, that strangulated my book-buying
power ... with this new constraint, I contemplated putting the Camus book back
on the rack... let’s see, for the moment I’ll hold on... I saw Hermann Hesse’s
Narcissus and Goldmund... I had seen this book long years ago in
an old friend’s house and was intrigued by the cover page and description on
the blurb, and this novel kept popping up here and there at regular intervals
and it was the same cover...this time I decided to stop this popping up and
dropped it onto my basket...
I looked at the prices of these books...oops! ...
together the total came very close to what I had in my pocket... I’d be cutting
it very close and I had to reach home and keep at least a couple of tenners in
reserve as well... that settled it then! I re-considered the Camus book and with
reluctant resolve, kept it back on the shelf...and headed to the counter with
only two books...sigh...
A bunch of ladies were being served at the counter and I envied
them...they had together bought 25 BOOKS!!!
It would be some time before their big purchase would be billed
and I wandered along the tables nearby looking aimlessly at the books arranged
there...my eyes fell on a book with a striking blue colour and a tempting
title...The Picador Book of Blues and Jazz (Ed. James Campbell)
... this was too tempting... the book had articles, stories, and poems on Jazz
and Blues by well-known writers and Jazz/Blues performers... I checked the
price...it was less than the Camus book that I had returned to the racks (I have
to convince myself somehow, no? he he
he...) ... I hastily picked it up lest I change my mind (I am fighting
me, you see...)
I checked
my precarious finances...ok...just about enough left to reach home comfortably...and
for a cup of chai...
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